No Promises
by Paintdripps
Summary: He was wrong. He realized it after eight years of being alone. But he still couldn't promise anyone anything.. not after all he'd done. Jeyna songfic, based on the epic song by Incubus!


**So here I am yet AGAIN, typing up a one-shot because the plot bunny won't leave me alone. Whatever. Welcome to "Promises, Promises"! Based on the awesome song by Incubus.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the song or the characters. **

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><p><em><strong>Promises, Promises<strong>_

_I'm only twenty-three for__  
><em>_Another hour, give or take,_

Jason kissed Piper lightly on the cheek. "Happy Birthday," he whispered in her ear. Piper smiled up at him as he walked over to Thalia.

Thalia hissed in his ear, "We're all waiting, you know. You still have the ring, right?"

Jason patted his pocket. "Course I do."

_I'm a fan of yours__  
><em>_And I need a good mistake_

Jason was nervous, to say the least. He had planned to propose to Piper at her twenty-fourth birthday. They'd been together since age sixteen, once Gaea had been locked back in her slumber and the giants had been destroyed.

_I'm not a sinner, a preacher__  
><em>_All I have is slight of hand__  
><em>_I do magic tricks for__  
><em>_All the boys in the band_

He could never forget the hurt look on Reyna's face. In dreams, he'd wake up remembering the shattered darkness in her eyes.

Shortly after he'd announced that he was dating Piper, the old rivalry had sprung up again. The Greeks and Romans had separated for centuries for good reason. Connor Stoll had been one of the first casualties. Then it was Hazel, who'd gone on a quest with Percy Jackson during the first exchange. It was hard to believe—a friend he'd known for so long, just… gone in an instant.

Jason had sided with the Greeks—after all, his girlfriend was a Greek.

"You're a traitor," Reyna had spat at him. "You're a filthy, lying traitor. "

"You're just saying that!" he'd protested.

Reyna smiled coldly. "Am I? Look at your arm, Grace. You'll always be Roman. You will _never _be Greek. NEVER. You can't escape your past!"

She'd left him staring at the tattoo on his forearm: SPQR.

_Baby could I be__  
><em>_The rabbit in your hat?__  
><em>_I'd swing if you'd hand me...__  
><em>_Hand me the bat_

Piper blew out the candles on her chocolate cake, eyes closed. Then she opened them again, grinning.

"Hey, uh, Piper," Jason said awkwardly.

"Yeah?"

He dropped down onto one knee.

_I'm on the road of least resistance__  
><em>_I'd rather give up than give into this_

He paused, feeling all the eyes in the room on him. Thalia was grinning. Leo looked completely shocked.

_So promise me only one thing, would you?__  
><em>_Just don't ever make me promise…_

"Oh, so you can promise to love her forever and keep it, but you can't keep your promise to _me_?"

Jason started, shocked by the voice in his head. Reyna's voice. He hadn't heard it in years.

"No, it's not like that, Reyna!" he pleaded out loud, much to the confusion of everyone watching.

_No promises, no promises_

"You promised me you wouldn't ever leave me! You promised, Jason. You _promised._" Reyna's voice was free of the dripping sarcasm it had had before he'd left. It was like… the old days, back in his childhood.

Jason rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his head.

Piper asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." _I'm going crazy. Is that it? _

_I've never done this before_

"Just hurry up and say the magic words!" Thalia practically shouted.

Leo stared at him. "Come on, dude! Do you have the guts to ask or not?"

_Promises, promises,_

The words stuck in Jason's throat. How could he ask Piper to marry him? How could he promise to love her forever as best as he could, when he'd broken the same promise to Reyna?

_I'm enjoying the illusion__  
><em>_And the things my body says_

He was stuck in a web of broken promises. And he couldn't escape them. He felt as though someone had just poured broken glass down his throat. _Traitor! _Reyna had been right. How could he leave her? How could he leave who he was behind?

_Now you see me, now you don't__  
><em>_Oh, how well you disappear__  
><em>_What are you running from__  
><em>_And may I interfere?_

"Jason?" Piper asked carefully.

Jason got up and brushed his pants off. "I-I'm sorry. I can't." He fished the ring out of his pocket and threw it at Leo. "Here, man. You take it. Try your luck." Then he ran out the door and jumped into the car.

"Oh, great. Now I'm stranded here," he heard Thalia say through the glass.

He started the ignition and drove, not knowing where he was going—just trying to get away from Piper's Beverly Hills apartment.

_Baby, could I be__  
><em>_The rabbit in your hat?_

Jason stopped at last. He'd just driven for miles. He got out of the car.

And then he found himself staring at the numbers painted on the door of the house before him: 1763. 1763 Armand Avenue.

How had he gotten to Reyna's house in Los Angeles?

_I'd swing if you'd hand me…__  
><em>_Hand me the bat_

He knocked on the door loudly. It swung open almost instantaneously.

Jason found himself face-to-face with a girl. A dark eyed, raven-haired demigod girl, to be exact.

"What," Reyna said, dumbfounded, "are you doing here, Grace?"

Jason blurted, "I'm so sorry I left you, Reyna."

Reyna's shock turned to anger. "Get out of here!" Then she slammed the door in his face.

_I'm on the road of least resistance_

"I know you're still there!" he called through the door. He hadn't heard her footsteps retreat. So he quickly continued.

"I'm sorry I chose Piper over you. I was…"

"Scared? Weak? Stupid?" offered his childhood friend sarcastically.

"All of those! I'm sorry. I chose Piper because… it was the easy way out. She was easier to be with than you and—"

"This isn't helping my opinion of you at all," Reyna snapped.

He took a deep breath. "I fell in love with you the first time I saw you. All those years ago when we were kids. When I saw you at first glance, I thought, 'Wow, that girl is really pretty.' And I swore I would make you mine someday."

"Cut the sappy junk, Grace."

"Okay, okay." He held up his palms in defeat. "But I was also afraid of you."

"Me?"

"Your long hair. That look in your eye. And you still scare me."

"What's your point?"

"Reyna…"

_I'd rather give up than give into this_

She opened the door a crack, dark eyes curious. "Continue." Was that a smile on her face?

"I…"

_So promise me only one thing, would you?_

"I love you."  
>She stepped back. "Wow. That was…"<p>

"Random? Yes. But true."

Reyna leaned forward and wrapped him in a hug. "Okay, then. I forgive you."

_Just don't ever make me promise…_

"Promise you won't leave me again?" Reyna's eyes were pleading.

"I can't," he said with a sigh. "I don't trust myself anymore."

"Well," she said after a moment's thought. "Anything else to say?"

Jason knelt down for the second time that day and pulled a paperclip out of his pocket. "Will you marry me?"

"You're giving me a _paperclip_?" she stared at him. "Of course, you dummy."

They burst out laughing, two friends that had yet to heal each other's scars.

But for now? They were okay.

_No promises, no promises_

_No promises_

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><p><strong>Wow, that was random. R&amp;R, anyway! <strong>


End file.
